Perceived Social Support among Family in Pregnant Women

1Students Research Committee, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran.

2MSc Student of Counseling in Midwifery, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran.

3Center for Health Related Social and Behavioral Sciences, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran.

Abstract

Introduction: In Iran little attention has been paid to the important role of husband’s support in promoting maternal health. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between perceived social support from family in pregnant women and pregnancy-related factors. Methods: The study included 358 postpartum women in the second half of the year 2014 in Fatemiyeh Hospital in Shahroud, North East of Iran. The data collection instruments included Perceived Social Support - Family Scale (PSSFa). Results: Eleven (1.3%) women had poor family support, 100 women (27.9%) had moderate family support and 247 women (69%) had good family support. There were no significant relationships between perceived support from family with mother’s BMI, family economic status and occupation of the mother, smoking and substance abuse by the mother, and husband’s education. But a significant relationship was found between mother’s score of family support and her age and education, so that mothers with high school diploma and higher education had scores which were significantly higher than the others. Also, women whose husbands were smoking or abused drug had lower support scores. The support had significant relationship with the number of pregnancies and pregnancy complications so that the more pregnancies a mother had, the lower the support was. Mothers with pregnancy complications also had lower support scores. Social support in unwanted pregnancies was significantly lower than wanted pregnancies..Conclusion: Family and social support is associated with pregnancy side effects and outcomes and in high-risk and unwanted pregnancies, it was lower.